• by Sara Guaglione , January 28, 2020

Emily Ramshaw and Amanda Zamora, the former editor-in-chief and Chief Audience Officer at The Texas Tribune, are launching a nonprofit news site called The 19th to cover the “intersection of gender, politics and policy.”

The name of the site comes from the 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, which prohibits government from denying U.S. citizens the right to vote based on their sex. It granted American women the right to vote, known as women’s suffrage.

The site’s logo contains an asterisk, because the amendment applied only to white women. 

“The 19th Amendment remains unfinished business, a fact we acknowledge in our logo with an asterisk — a visible reminder of those who have been omitted from our democracy,” according to the organization.

The Washington Post will publish The 19th’s content until the site fully launches in August, coinciding with 100 years since the 19th Amendment was passed.

The 19th, based in Austin, Texas, says it will be a nonpartisan news organization. Content will be “free-to-consume and free-to-republish.”

“We aim to empower women — particularly those underserved by and underrepresented in American media — with the information, community and tools they need to be equal participants in our democracy,” reads The 19th's website.

Initial beats will include presidential politics, women and Congress, the women's electorate, women's health, women and the economy, and women and the states. 

"The 19th aims to elevate the voices of women ... women of color, women living off the coasts and women of limited means," Ramshaw stated. "There are simply not enough women leading newsrooms, and as a result, not enough stories about the issues, inequities and unique challenges that most directly affect women's lives."

Revenue will come from member support, individual philanthropy, foundation grants, corporate sponsorships and live events, according to the organization.

The Texas Tribune, also a nonprofit news organization, is similarly funded.

Ramshaw serves as cofounder-CEO, Zamora as cofounder-publisher, Andrea Valdez is editor-in-chief, Errin Haines is editor-at-large, and Johanna Derlega is Chief Revenue Officer.

Nearly $5 million in funding comes from Kathryn Murdoch, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors’ Reproductive Health and Women’s Rights Collaborative, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the Ford Foundation, Emerson Collective, Knight Foundation, Abigail Disney, Arnold Ventures and the Packard Foundation, among others, according to Nieman Lab.

This spring, The 19th will embark on a “national listening tour,” to hear from women on the state of voting rights in their communities and explore the top issues they face at the ballot box in November. 

The 19th is partnering with the League of Women Voters and The Riveter for the tour, which kicks off in Austin on April 22 and travels to Los Angeles, Denver, Seattle, Minneapolis and Atlanta.

The 19th is currently hiring 17 staffers and aims to have a newsroom “that reflects the racial and socioeconomic diversity of American women and is devoted to covering all women with empathy.”

The organization is offering six months paid parental leave, four months paid leave to care for sick relatives and a number of remote positions.